At least 47 migrant labourers including women and children were rescued by the police on Saturday at Nuapada district while they were being trafficked to Andhra Pradesh, official sources said.
The labourers, including nine minors, were being taken to toil in brick kilns near Hyderabad city when the police intercepted the vehicle in which they boarded and rescued them from a labour trap.
The rescued labourers were from Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts and were given an advance of Rs 30,000-Rs 40,000 each by a broker to work in brick kilns. Search is to arrest the broker, police said.
Due to a lack of employment opportunities, people in the western districts mainly in Balangir and Nuapada migrate to neighbouring states in search of jobs and are often exploited by their employers.
It’s pertinent to note here that the exodus of workforces goes unabated in the worst distress-migration-hit Bolangir and Nuapada districts despite the State government’s claims of spending a whopping Rs 134 crore to eradicate the distress migration.